Chapter 44

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Chapter 44: The Big Decision

Leader One is a very kind person. He believes in talking things out and trying not to hurt each other, aiming for a happy ending for everyone.

But some problems can’t be solved peacefully, and it’s a fight to the end.

November 1, 1837, night.

The Prussian royal family’s guards, elite soldiers, Teutonic Knights, 1st, 3rd, and 4th Cavalry Divisions set out from their bases to start capturing suspects.

In the Brandenburg and Pomeranian regions, this night was anything but calm.

As the sun rose from the horizon, the spacious grounds of the Berlin City Lake Manor were crowded with 944 bound-up criminals, looking like dumplings.

They were all fine, as the arresting officers were gentle and fair, not resorting to torture or execution.

Once the Prussian Supreme Court started its proceedings at 9 a.m., these prisoners would be taken to court for a fair trial.

Actually, it’s mainly about money. In this era, a lot of money needs to be taken out or transferred in person. Just a letter and some identification documents are not enough to transfer large amounts of assets.

These criminals include 6 counts, 52 barons or viscounts, 181 Junkers, 90 members of parliament, and the rest are government officials or civil servants.

These people, each very wealthy, but a lot of their assets are overseas. If they are executed directly, it will result in a loss of a large amount of assets. In order to recover the illegal gains of the criminals as much as possible, it is necessary to follow normal legal procedures and asset recovery procedures.

If they are executed just to make a point, their overseas assets will be taken by local banks or wealth management institutions, which would do more harm than good.

The Supreme Court began its work, with the first criminal, Count Cloe, appearing in court for trial.

Judge, "Tax evasion, illegal land acquisition, intentional murder, bigamy, crimes against humanity. During your time as the mayor of Gottingen, you made a profit of 95,100 pounds by abusing your position, accepted bribes in the form of 55 paintings, and 97 antiques. According to the relevant laws, your whole family is sentenced to exile in Antarctica, your title stripped, and all assets confiscated. Do you have any objections?"

Count Cloe, "I object!"

Judge, "Change the sentence to execution for the whole family. Next."

Those willing to cooperate voluntarily surrender their illegal gains to the state and are sentenced to exile in Antarctica for the whole family.

The defiant ones, along with their families, all enjoyed the same treatment as the Emperor Louis XVI.

It’s hard to say whether it’s amusing or sad, but each and every one of these prisoners was truly sentenced by law, and a simple search can reveal at least ten charges against each of them.

The nobles and Junkers of Prussia are quite special compared to those of England and France. While the nobles of England and France may be deceitful and cunning, they wear white gloves while carrying out dirty deeds and making money through deceitful means. Some are so cunning that even if everyone knows they are up to no good, they cannot be judged by the law because they cover their tracks so well, with no evidence left behind. The most cunning individuals not only evade legal consequences but cannot even be judged on moral grounds.

The Prussian "barbarians" do not engage in such schemes. They are all honest and straightforward individuals, with honesty tinged with a bit of bluntness and a hint of foolishness. Their dirty deeds are carried out openly, and evidence can easily be found against them.

Through legal judgment and the recovery of illicit gains according to the law, if the criminals cooperate voluntarily, most of their foreign assets can be repatriated. If they refuse to cooperate, it becomes difficult to recover their foreign assets, potentially leading to foreign capital taking over a significant portion, or even all, causing significant losses to the Prussian state.

Leader One claimed fifty percent of the illicit gains recovered through the Great Judgment for state ownership, while the other fifty percent would be openly auctioned off. Both cooperative and non-cooperative individuals could bid for them, exchanging them for cash to promote industrialization and serve as a means to appease the affected groups.

The arrests were completed overnight, and all the criminals were tried within a week, causing little commotion. The newspapers reported on it hastily, and there were no protests or demonstrations.

Although more than nine hundred families were either wiped out or exiled during this Great Judgment, it only affected a part of the entire noble, Junker, and official communities. Leader One singled out some particularly enthusiastic individuals for handling, rather than conducting a complete purge. Only eighty members of the parliament were lost.

Amid Prussia’s rare period of development, Leader One did not want a massive cleanup operation to cause chaos. The purges were contained within a certain scope—harsh enough to serve as a warning, but not excessively severe to avoid triggering widespread resistance from reactionary forces leading to social disorder, while also restraining the military.

Weakening traditional nobles and non-military landowners would make the military grow stronger without any limits, like a wild beast out of control once it has no one to hold it back.

In Prussia, nobles and landowners are allowed as long as they don’t hinder the country’s progress.

It’s important for the parliament to have different opinions and debates to guide the country in the right direction, rather than focusing on personal gain.

Making money and being selfish might happen, but it’s better if it’s done more discreetly.

After the Great Judgment, law enforcers gathered at Redel-Catherine Manor for a meeting in the prince regent’s office.

"I will end all tax exemptions in Prussia. Everyone, including the Hohenzollern family, must pay taxes according to the law."

"I will hire officials based on their abilities and performance, even if they are young. It’s better to have them learn from mistakes than to do nothing or cause more problems."

"Let’s reorganize the parliament and hold new elections. Except for the 20 seats reserved for the military, all other positions must be elected, not appointed."

"Ron, Moltke, and Catherine promoted to Major Generals, Hans promoted to Brigadier General, and Anna appointed as the Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Finance."

"Now let the Ministry of Industry and Ministry of Finance revise Prussia’s industrialization plan. I hope it can be implemented quickly. Also, why hasn’t the rubbish bins in Berlin City been placed properly yet? It’s been a year since the health reform, but where are the results?"

The series of special decrees from the prince regent skipped parliamentary discussions and were directly issued. Most of them gained support from all levels, except for the issue of parliamentary reorganization, which faced a little opposition.

Sixteen traditional nobles who opposed the measures came to the office for a face-to-face meeting.

"Um… Your Highness the Regent, our reserved seats as nobles have been taken away. Could you please reconsider? Of course, we are not against you. We are just suggesting that if possible, you could reconsider. It’s okay if you don’t."

Upon hearing the foolish words from these traditional nobles, Leader One directly scolded them and also offered some ideas.

"I’ve said it before, seats other than those for the military must be elected. Do you understand what elections mean? You can spend a bit, give some benefits to the common people, and they will vote for you. It’s a tiny amount for you wealthy Grand Aristocrats, just a fraction of your annual income, even a fraction of a fraction is enough."

"Is it difficult to gain a good reputation among the people? You only need to hire some cheap cooks, have them cook with cheap ingredients, distribute the food for free on the streets, or go door to door giving out flour. For you wealthy Grand Aristocrats, it’s just a small amount of money, spend a tiny fraction of your income each year, even just a tiny fraction of a fraction."

"In the future, you can buy parliamentary seats this way. You wealthy nobles can decide on your respective election areas, spend some money in the long term to win over the people, which is like having a reserved seat. Once you become a member of parliament, you can find ways to make money through various means and it will come back to you."

The sixteen traditional nobles looked at each other.

"Your Majesty, we understand the reasoning, but we don’t want to spend money to charm people…"

Leader One looked kindly at them.

They quickly said, "Your Highness, Your Highness, we are willing to spend money to help the struggling common people, after all, we nobles are the backbone of the country, we have compassion, we have a duty to lead all the people of Germany out of suffering."

Leader One sighed helplessly and waved his hand to dismiss these troublesome individuals.

Often, knowing that there is a problem and that letting it linger could have consequences, but unable to solve it, Prussia in 1837 was still in the early stages of transitioning from feudalism to modern times, full of troubles.

These troublesome matters were like bugs in a program, you fix one, and more may pop up.

No.

No.

Prussia, in fact, grew out of a program with bugs; many of its functions were based on those bugs. Removing some bugs might make it unable to function.

The messy problems and issues were not just Leader One’s alone. He could only handle the most important tricky problems, and had no energy left for the rest.

After the Great Judgment, Prussia finally started moving towards a better path, where industrialization and modernization reforms could take place effectively.

Leader One’s trusted advisors were promoted to higher positions after the Great Judgment. They went from being third or fourth in command to being second in command in different departments, cities or councils. But these young officials might cause some confusion, so they need to be closely monitored.

The military was happy to receive more funding. Half of the property from the Great Judgment was seized while the other half was auctioned. Parliament was re-elected and there was a major restructuring of administrative institutions throughout Prussia. Many people got new positions, and those who lost their positions were mostly deceased. The living were all happy.

But there was one person who was not happy.

After Parliament underwent a reorganization, the efficiency of the agenda increased significantly by a thousand percent. However, these newly elected members of Parliament… continued to discriminate against Anna.

"We are afraid of the prince regent, but you, a thug and peasant woman from the village, we will still ostracize you. Women should not be in politics, that’s the political correctness. Even if you complain to the prince regent, we represent the will of the people. We are the legislators elected by the people, and we represent the public’s discrimination against you, a notorious female thug."

Anna’s temper flared up.

Brandenburg Evening News, "Ministry of Finance Chief Secretary Anna von Bismarck, Bringing a Gun to Parliament Becomes a Norm"